The Letter and the Cruise

Chapter one, two, and the beginning of three.

Chapter one
Addison
"Addison is that you dear"? her mother asked as she came in the front door. She had been at summer camp for two weeks and was to tired to answer. She walked up the stairs, down the hall and into the kitchen where her mother was waiting with a fresh batch of pecan maple cookies. "Hey mom" she said lazily as she plopped down into a chair at the kitchen table. "What, no hug"? her mother asked. "Sorry mom". She got up and took three of the cookies, then hugged her. "Oh I'm so happy that your finally home"! her mother said as Addison tried to wriggle out of the hug and away from the kisses. "I'm happy to be home too, but I think I might take a nap before dinner". Her mother looked worried, "are you feeling alright"? Addison replied with, "oh yes I'm fine". Even though she could have collapsed from exhaustion. "Well your father will be home from work at about seven". "And before you take a nap", her mother pulled an envelope out of the stack of mail, "this came for you while you were away". "We were going to open it but since it says its addressed to you and the family, I figured you would want to open it yourself". Addison looked at the letter with a puzzled expression. Had she done something wrong at camp? Was she in trouble? She took the letter and clumped up the stairs to her room. There she flopped down onto her bed and fell asleep.
At about seven fifteen her father came into her room. "Hey Addie"! "What? Oh hi dad". "Did you have a good time at camp"? He asked. "Yeah! It was great, we got to go swimming and camping and we got to ride horses on all the trails!" "That sounds wonderful Addie"! "Well your mother says that dinner will be in just a few minutes, ok? "Alright, I'll be right down". She said with a smile. She got up and looked at the envelope still sitting unopened on her desk. "Well, I guess it will just have to wait", she thought as she walked out of the room.
"Well sweaty, you never told me how camp was". Her mother said as she was clearing table. "Oh it was great mom, we got to go swimming in the river and we even got to go rock climbing with ropes and harnesses and everything"! "Oh dear! I hope no one got hurt"! Addison remembered that a girl named Brooklyn had gotten rope burn on her hands because she forgot to put on gloves, but she decided she shouldn't tell her mother that because it would worry her. "No mom, no one even got a scratch". "Well thats good", her mother said. "I wouldn't let you go next summer if anything bad had happened to anyone". Addison was just about to go to her room when her mother said, "honey, did you open that letter"? "Was it anything bad"? Addison sighed, her mother was notorious for asking to many questions at once. "No mom, I haven't opened it yet". "Well you be sure and tell us what its all about before you go to bed, ok"? "Alright mom I will". She felt nervous as she went down the hall and up the stairs to her room. " what if I really am in trouble"? "What if I did something terrible I didn't even know i did it"? She thought as she went in to her room. All of a sudden the colors of her walls and her bedspread all seamed to cheery. She just wanted to curl up in her closet and never ever have to read that horrible letter. But instead of going for the closet, she walked to her desk and sat down in her big cushiony office chair. She picked up the letter and looked at the front of it. It said "To Ms. Addison Faulkner and parents or guardian". "Hmmm", she thought as she opened the envelope. It was strange that it only had her name on it. Her hands trembled as she started to take the letter out and unfold it. But there, at the top in bright orange letters it said, "CONGRATULATIONS"!!! "That is just to weird", she thought. She began to read the letter. "CONGRATULATIONS! You are one of the eight family's who were chosen to go on a three week summer cruse! All your needs will be met among one of the most luxurious ships in the world! If you and your family choose to come on this wonderful summer vacation, please send an email to [email protected] and we will answer all your questions. We hope you accept!" Her first thought was "this must be a joke"! But when she looked up the email address, it was right there on the computer screen staring back at her blank face. Addison got up and slowly walked down the stairs. Her mother and Father were sitting at the island counter in the kitchen with there teas and talking about plans for summer. Her mother turned to her when she walked in and said, "whats wrong Addison"?! "You look as though you've seen a ghost"! She handed the letter to her father, and as he read it his face became as blank as hers. When he was done he gave it to her mother and said, "Addie, is this what was in that envelope"? She nodded her head and when her mother had finished reading it she said, "well, its obviously just a joke". But Addison brought her laptop and showed her mother the email address. "What should we do about it Blake"? (Blake is Addison's father). "I don't know"? "I'll email them tonight for some answers, and I'll check it in the morning". "Your not really serious, are you"?! Her mother exclaimed. "Dear, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity"! "I'll ask some questions and we'll see in the morning". "Alright". Her mother said. "But don't you two get your hopes up about it". "And Addison, you better get to bed its already eleven-thirty and Kelly wants you to come over at nine o-clock tomorrow morning". "Ok, g-night mom, g-night dad". And as she crawled into bed, she thought that the letter had not been bad at all.

Chapter two
Aubrey and Ivy
"MOM MOM MOM", Aubrey and Ivy came shouting in to the living room. "AUBREY SAID THAT MIKA LIKES HER MORE THAN ME"! Ivy shouted. "BUT MOM ITS TRUE SHE DOES LIKE ME MORE THAN IVY"! Aubrey yelled. "Girls, girls calm down. Now I'm sure that Mika likes both of you just as much". Just then their father walked in and said "girls you know that you need to use your inside voices. And who ever said that Mika doesn't like me more"? He smiled and both the girls came running and jumped into his arms as he lifted them both off the ground. When he set them down he said, "now you girls better go and feed Mr. Fluffy and Mrs. Cuddles then get ready for bed. (Mr. Fluffy and Mrs. Cuddles are their cats). Both the girls looked at each other and went running to see who could feed their cat and get ready for bed the fastest. To them, everything was a race. As they climbed into their beds, their parents came in and took turns giving them hugs and kisses and saying, "goodnight Aubrey, and goodnight Ivy". When their parent had left the room, the turned the light back on and got out all of their drawing supplies. Aubrey said, "Ivy you get the pencils and crayons". And Ivy said, "you get the paper and markers". The next day was their mothers birthday and they wanted to make her cards. When they had finished making the cards and admiring them together they put all the drawing supplies away. They shut the light off, crawled into bed and Ivy said, "goodnight Aubrey". And Aubrey said, "goodnight Ivy".
The next morning, Aubrey and Ivy got up and took their cards to their mother. "Oh girls, these are beautiful"! She exclaimed. "Where do we get to go today mommy"? Aubrey asked. And Ivy asked, "do we get to go see grandma and grandpa"?! "Actually Ivy, grandma and grandpa are going to meet us at the zoo in about an hour". Their father said as he came in from the living room for more coffee. "OH YAY"!!! Both girls yelled as they went running to their room to put on their summer dresses. As they came down the stairs they herd there father say "thats strange, this letter says its addressed to Ivy and Aubrey but it doesn't say our names Vivian". (Vivian is their mother). "It just says, "To Ms. Aubrey and Ms. Ivy Rosenberg and parents or guardian". "Well when the gir-". Their mother was cut off when Ivy and Aubrey ran in to the kitchen yelling "LET US SEE, LET US SEE"! "Calm down you two". Their father said as he opened the letter. "I'll read it to you, it says "CONGRATULATIONS! You are two of the eight family's who were chosen to go on a three week summer cruse! All your needs will be met among one of the most luxurious ships in the world! If you and your family choose to come on this wonderful summer vacation, please send an email to [email protected] and we will answer all your questions. We hope you accept!" "Oh can we go dad? Can we can we?" Aubrey and Ivy asked as they jumped up and down around their father. "Well girls, we'll look into it". Their mother said patiently. "But you must calm down first". They ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to their room where Ivy said, "oh will we really get to go on a big boat for a cruise"? And Aubrey said, "of corse we will! Mommy and daddy will have to let us go"! And at that, they both smoothed out their dresses, and got ready for a day at the zoo.

Chapter three
Grayson
"Get outa my room Reagan"! Grayson yelled at his younger brother as he got ready for soccer practice. "Grayson come on, were gonna be late"! Yelled his other younger brother Luka as he slammed the front door shut. Grayson sighed, he didn't really like soccer. "I'm going as fast as I can". He thought to himself as he yanked on his other cleat. He grabbed his bag and ran into the kitchen to get his water bottle which was usually filled and ready to go, but instead he found Reagan emptying it onto the floor. "REAGAN, NO"! He screamed as the last of it came out of the bottle. "Great, now I really am late and your soaked". He said as he got a towel to wipe up the mess. Reagan sat down on the floor again and started crying. "No, no, no, don't cry now we have to leave"! Grayson said as he scooped Reagan up and ran to the front door. "I want mommy"! Reagan yelled as Grayson leapt into the car. "Grayson your late again, and what happened to Reagan? I just put him in new clothes"! His father said is they started to drive down the busy street. "Sorry dad, he dumped my water bottle out on the floor and I was trying to clean it u- he was cut off by his father who said "now Grayson, Ive told you a thousand times not to make up these ridiculous stories. Reagan cant even reach the top of the counter"! Grayson had never thought of that. But how DID Reagan reach the water bottle? Then he saw the devilish grin on Lukas face as he turned to look at him. "DAD! LUKA DID IT I KNOW HE DID"! He screeched as Luka turned his head so their father couldn't see his smile. "Grayson, I want you to stop this nonsense right now! You are to old to be blaming your accidents on your bothers. Now, you are going to get out of this car and do a good job during practice. When you get back in the car, I don't want to hear a single word out of you. Do you understand"?! Grayson looked out at the soccer field where everyone else was warming up and said to himself, "mom would have believed me".
After practice, Grayson and Luka jogged to the car and climbed in. Just as his father had told him, he didn't say a word. He felt a sadness grow over him like a cold blanket of mist, and he knew the feeling. He got it every time he thought of his mother. She was gone. Gone forever, just like the smile on his fathers face when he used to pick him up from soccer practice. All the memories, and the stories, and his childhood had all faded into that cold, dark mist.
When they pulled into the driveway, Grayson took his bag and picked up Reagan who had fallen asleep on the way home. He quietly brought him into the house and took him up the stairs where he laid him down in his bed. Grayson shut the door to Reagan's room as he walked out, and went down to the bathroom where he stood and looked in the mirror. He thought that maybe the reason his father always found a way to blame him, was because he looked nothing like his mother. Luka and Reagan were like copied images of her face in different bodies. When she had been there, his father was always smiling and joyful. But now all there was, was the cold icy stair as he looked at Grayson.

Author's Note

Sorry some things may not be perfect about it yet, but I haven't really had time to edit.

Reviews

[Jeccka]

I like the concept, this cruise seems a little ominous.! When you have as much dialogue as you do, it can be difficult to follow along if you have the quotes side by side, like when Addison and both her parents are talking, it's a little difficult to keep track of who's talking. Not saying that you can't lump dialogue together like that but it's meant for short conversation. Also, in the beginning and more towards the middle, you have quotes are two different sentences but since their said by the same person they can be put in the same quotes. For example, "Your father will be home at about seven.". "And before you take a nap,"
Since those are both said by the same person, they can go under one set of quotes. "Your father will be home at about seen. And before you take a nap,"
I'd like to see where you take this, keep writing! Nice work :)